B. B. King, Defining Bluesman for Generations, Dies at 89 - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/arts/music/b-b-king-blues-singer-dies-at-89.html <comment><USER2> RIP BB.

Once, quite a long time ago, I spent an evening w/ BB and a bartender in a bar in Alaska. It had snowed heavily, and no one showed up for his show, so he performed solo for the 2 of us, all night long. That night lives in my mind as the epitome of gracious, inspired performances. I was truly awed. The talent that passed with this man is a great loss. The Master of the Blues is thrilling the angels now, as he has thrilled so many for so long. Thanks for the show, BB.

<comment><USER3> I'm the guy who stays after a concert to see if the musicians jam. When musics play "out of office hours" it just sounds different to my ears.

I envy your BB King private show, badly.

RIP BB.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'm reminded of a picture that tells his significance to music far better than words.

[https://wavemakermagazine.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/s_a060...](https://wavemakermagazine.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/s_a060101-01_riding20with20the20king.jpg)

Then there's this one as well:

[http://www.pastblues.com/images/files/April/Jimi%20Hendrix%2...](http://www.pastblues.com/images/files/April/Jimi%20Hendrix%20and%20B.B.%20King%201.jpg)

<comment><USER5> This is a genuine question: I know nothing of B. B. King, and how does the first picture tell anything about his significance to music?

<comment><USER4> Eric Clapton considered him his mentor. So did Jimmy Hendrix. James Brown considered him his equal. For fifty plus years he was a major influence on other artists.

That picture of Clapton chauffering him was done for an album the two did together called Riding with the King. Clapton initiated the project. It went 2X multi platinum in the U.S. (rare for a blues album) and won a Grammy.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_with_the_King_(B.B._King...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_with_the_King_\(B.B._King_and_Eric_Clapton_album\))

<comment><USER6> I came here to specifically mention this album. It is truly stellar. It's available as DVD audio too, mixed as 5.1 surround sound. It's one of the better 5.1 album mixes I've heard.

I heard B.B. was in the hospital not too long ago and hoped all would be OK. He was/is truly an enormous influence on the blues genre and will be missed.

<comment><USER7> I just bought Riding with the King last month. Didn't know there was a DVD- Audio version.

I was sad to hear that some of his recent performances were poorly received:

[http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/reviews/b-b- king...](http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/reviews/b-b-king-at-the- peabody-how-things-just-got/article_59ade8eb-c431-55de-a138-66925bb8de3b.html)

[http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/music/headlines/2013...](http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/music/headlines/20131121-concert- review-b.b.-king-struggles-to-find-a-thrill-in-dallas-concert.ece)

[http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/09/2...](http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/09/28/bb- king-concert-review-erratic-phoenix/16391877/)

When it comes to aging music icons who still perform, I think of Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones. They're in their early seventies, kids compared to B.B. King, touring in his late eighties. If you ever catch me booing a man like B.B. King for an erratic performance, punch me in the nose. Hard.

<comment><USER7> I opened the liner notes for Riding with the King, which has a great picture of B.B. King and Eric Clapton playing side by side, sitting on Fender amps (not sure if this link will work):

[http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/blues- guitarist...](http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/blues-guitarist-b- b-king-eric-clapton-and-elvin-bishop-news-photo/73992816)

Googling a bit, I found out (or maybe I knew at one time) that B.B. King was the cousin of Bukka White, who first sparked my interest in the blues. There's something about that gravely voice and slide guitar.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> k-mcgrady We talk a lot on HN about 'doing what you love' This was a man who, against all odds, truly did that. For most of his life he was playing over 300 shows a year and even this year when he was ill he played over 100. Very sad he's gone and I never had the opportunity to hear him sing live.

<comment><USER8> That makes two of us - I missed being able to see Gary Moore live, and now B. B. King :( .

<comment><USER9> I got to see Moore but missed King - my friend went to see him but didn't tell me about the tour! Gutting.

Moore's blues songs are a million times better than his rock era, IMHO. Some nasty-sounding guitar tone there.

Additionally, King did very well to keep playing the blues over such a long period of time. If you listen to the songs from the 80s you can hear that he had to adjust (slap bass / boosted treble bass, round squishy synths and massive reverbs, horrible tom sounds) but he did well to carry on playing the blues through it and come back to a more traditional (normal!) sound afterwards.

Interestingly, he never played chords!

<comment><USER10> "Moore's blues songs are a million times better than his rock era, IMHO. Some nasty-sounding guitar tone there." Say what you want about the tone, but watch this and tell me his 80s playing isn't superb, I dare you! ;-) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFUW621lgXY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFUW621lgXY)

BB deserves a good send off. I don't know what to say, other than thank you for everything you did for the guitar, and for music, and for being a top bloke. I didn't know him personally but love how generous and charming he was in this video (some stunning playing by Derek Trucks too): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS0NHlWgi5w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS0NHlWgi5w)

<comment><USER9> Ah yes Moore's playing is indeed stunning, just the nasally higain tone that was offputting compared to his blues sound.

It might just be a rubbish mix on the album though - in person it is likely very different.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Last year I saw him perform on stage. Halfway through the show a child walked up to the edge of the stage. B.B King stopped in the middle of his riff said hello to the child, smiled big and handed him his pick. The band played on during this exchange and he quickly pulled out another pick and started in again, never losing a beat. Several more kids flocked to the stage and B.B King stopped for each and every one of them and did the same thing. He probably went through 50 picks that night. Although a bit disruptive to a great performance it was touching to see his engagement with kids.

<comment><USER12> My wife and I saw him play in New Orleans. Half way through the show his guitar strings broke and he stopped to fix it. The band kept playing, though.

A man in the audience stood up and started singing, and doing a very good job at it. The band picked up and followed the man singing, going right on through the song. Once his guitar was fixed, BB King came back in and sang backup for the man in the audience. His interaction with the audience for the entire show, and particularly this case, was amazing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> RIP.

I find solace that on a site dedicated to technology and entrepreneurship, respect can still be paid to an artist such as B.B. King.

</comment><comment><USER14> Choosing a favourite guitarist is like trying to decide between a favourite wine. So many choices but to me he has always been one of my favourites.

It hard to explain why exactly I, as a guitarist enjoy listening to his music. His heartfelt singing was warming but truthfully it the lady in his life. "Lucille". That's the name of his guitar. With her, he had this amazing tone. Its unbelievable. The way he made Lucille sing. This voice he gave her or she gave him just makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I listen to the pair of them.

People talk about legacy and he has an amazing one. It's true he has Inspired so many.

But don't be sad today, be happy for the man and the extraordinary life and legacy we celebrate which will continue to live on through his music.

PS I recommend the albums Deuces Wild and Riding with the King for your listening today.

<comment><USER15> I say Live at the Regal, hands down.. Then Live in Cook Cook County Jail. It's difficult to find a better live album than that.

<comment><USER16> Those are the two I've been spinning all day today. His best work IMO.

<comment><USER15> Yeah its the two that most other blues artists relate to..

<comment><USER16> I'd add "Live and Well" and "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" (even though purists hate the latter, I think it's a great album).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> As Duke Ellington said of Louis Armstrong: "He was born poor, died rich, and never hurt anyone along the way."

</comment><comment><USER18> The thrill may be gone, but it won't be forgotten.

If you have the means and opportunity, I can highly recommend a road trip down to Clarksdale, Missippi to visit the Delta Blues Museum:

[http://www.deltabluesmuseum.org/](http://www.deltabluesmuseum.org/)

Not sure if Chess Records on the South Side of Chicago is still accepting visitors, but that town has some amazing jazz and blues venues: the Green Mill, Buddy Guy's Legends, Lee's Unleaded, Checkerboard...

Now where did I stash that copy of "King of the Blues" so my old lady wouldn't toss it in the trash ;)

<comment><USER19> 3 other venues for folks in the area would be Kingston Mines, Blues on Halsted, and Rosa's.

<comment><USER20> Also Red's Lounge, was fortunate enough to catch Robert Balfour there a few years ago while passing through.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> RIP

I just hope there is electricity in heaven - because today it'll sound like this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KTjeqltuQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KTjeqltuQ)

</comment><comment><USER22> B. B. King was not only the the king of the blues but was know to be a great person as well. His story is inspiring for everyone (not just (blues) musicians). He never _blamed_ his background for any faults he might've had rather he channeled it to create the unique 'value' of his music -- or more correctly, his 'brand' of music. Maybe I'm just muttering nonsense ...he had a profound impact on not just my music sensibilities but on a lot of aspects in life.

Just take a look at each of these and it'll draw you a picture of the king: [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/b_b_king.html](http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/b_b_king.html)

<comment><USER23> Love this one from that link you posted: "I don't think anybody steals anything; all of us borrow"

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> In the early 2000s (I must have been, what, 21 or 22 at the time), I was at a party and found myself sitting next to the stereo. Since no music was playing at that point, I looked through the CD rack (the parents of the host were on vacation, which was the reason we had the party there, and the CD collection was theirs) and found Riding With The King. I generally liked (and still like) Eric Clapton, so I put it on. The other people at the party were mainly into Hip Hop and electronic music, but they did not complain.

That was my introduction to B.B. King. What else can I say? He will be remembered by so many people, and his music will stay with us.

</comment><comment><USER25> It will be a sad weekend in Memphis. There are no words to describe what he means to that city. We lost a legend.

</comment><comment><USER26> I recall that he said something like: "I don't play a lot of notes. I just try to play the right ones".

I think that if a guitarist plays a lot of notes real fast, it often sounds like he or she is rapidly searching for the right one. Instead, BB played the right note at the right time -- with the right lead-in (slide up or bend).

[http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2015/bb-king-gives-us-a- guitar-l...](http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2015/bb-king-gives-us-a-guitar- lesson/)

</comment><comment><USER14> The thrill is gone...

RIP B.B., you'll be surely missed.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVxCtt3s_1M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVxCtt3s_1M)

<comment><USER27> Excellent choice there. If you want to know what they mean by "tone" when talking about guitar, listen to that...

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> I'm listening to this right now. BB King in Zaire:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yOymBfnmTk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yOymBfnmTk)

It's not his best concert but the sound and film is good.

</comment><comment><USER29> Yeah money is not running the world for some people. Passion like music can drive our lives. Follow what your heart is telling you. Be happy with what you do everyday.

</comment><comment> k-mcgrady If you want to learn more about him I highly recommend the recent documentary 'Life of Riley'[1]. Incredible story.

[1] [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2259306/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2259306/)

</comment><comment><USER30> Introduced to his music ver yearly in my age. Loved (and still love) this kind of music (even if I live outside the states). After him, I discovered and appreciated so many artists.

His music will live on, reminding people why expressing yourself through arts is so great.

</comment><comment><USER31> A legend. My first exposure was through his participation in U2's Rattle and Hum album/rockumentary [0].

[0] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRHV- HWhqWQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRHV-HWhqWQ)

</comment><comment><USER32> A buddy and I once attended a performance at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Embarrassingly, we're were pretty drunk, but we were also enthusiastic,friendly, and front row, stage right. He graciously played a tune we kept shouting out ("Nobody loves me but my momma, and sometimes I think she's lying too...") and shook our hands at the end of the show. He even gave my friend his guitar pick. I think he had family in the from row that night as well. Makes my face red to even think of it now. A tremendous talent and gracious man, he's been in my mix for over 30 years and for some more to come. Thanks B.B.

</comment><comment><USER33> It's amazing how much emotion he was able to convey with his guitar. I'm so lucky to have seen him a few years ago at a blues festival. He got me into the blues and I've fallen in love with the genre. He will be missed.

</comment><comment><USER34> As a guitarist B.B. King has always been one of the defining guitar players for me. His style is unmatched and distinct. We lost one of the greats today and I am forever grateful for what impact he and his music has had on my life.

</comment><comment><USER35> He was a great artist and he had a great stage presence. I am sorry I only got to see him play live one time.

Another great blues musician died last year: Johnny Winter.

<comment><USER36> You are indeed very lucky to have witnessed the king. He will surely be missed.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> I was i his show in Brazil, I think it was back in 2010.

Between songs, a young woman shoulted: "I love you B.B."

He looked at her and said: "I love you too, honey."

</comment><comment><USER38> An admirable talent, deserving of the greatest respect. He made life better for all that were touched by his music. RIP.

</comment><comment><USER39> One of his most memorable verses:

"And everybody wanna know Why I sing the blues Well, I've been around a long time Mm, I've really paid my dues"

Full lyrics: [http://www.vagalume.com.br/bb-king/why-i-sing-the- blues.html](http://www.vagalume.com.br/bb-king/why-i-sing-the-blues.html)

RIP

</comment><comment><USER40> I had lunch in Memphis one time and he was with a group across the room. My brush with a legend.

</comment><comment><USER41> I knew it was BB King playing with just one note. His tone was indistinguishable. RIP King of the Blues, you're riding with the King.

</comment><comment><USER42> RIP King of the blues, you'll be truly missed.

</comment><comment><USER43> Goodbye, B.B. King! I watched you play in the Bournemouth International Center in 1997. Thank you for helping me get through life!

</comment><comment><USER44> I would have sworn this happened a couple of weeks ago, but apparently I was thinking of _Ben E._ King.

</comment><comment><USER45> No words. RIP.

</comment><comment><USER46> That makes me sad. It feels like a connection has been severed. Can't listen to him today.

</comment><comment><USER47> here is a tribute to BB king from the internet itself: [http://bandhub.us/s/5495e38a4ab7e9bb28734ce2](http://bandhub.us/s/5495e38a4ab7e9bb28734ce2)

</comment><comment><USER48> The greatest. Got more into one note than most could into an entire lifetime.

</comment><comment><USER49> Very sad news- but unlike many others that died, he will not be forgotten.

</comment><comment><USER50> The world is lucky that he created music for as long as he did.

</comment><comment><USER51> whenever bb king was playing his guitar the guitar was crying.

</comment><comment> 0-o All hail the king!

</comment><comment><USER52> BB you da man

</comment><comment><USER53> RIP</comment>


7 Reasons Why You Will Never Do Anything Amazing With Your Life. - <AUTHOR> http://raymmar.com/7-reasons-youll-never-do-anything-amazing-life/

<comment><USER2> Stopped reading at this collection of mental diarrhoea.

 _" Because you get your news from copy-cat members of the state-controlled media.

Because you are unwilling to ask this simple question… "What if it's all a lie?", and accept the possibility that maybe it is; that just maybe, the methods of mass media are under direct orders to: keep you distracted.

Because you call me a know-it-all but refuse to call yourself a know-nothing- at-all.

Because I thirst for knowledge, regardless the topic.

Because while you're busy playing Candy Crush, or Megalopolis, I am reading about string theory and quantum mechanics."_

Dunning-Kruger of the absolute highest effect. Compounded by paranoia.

EDIT TO ADD : I once sat in a long car journey with one of the founding scientists of the Large Hadron Collider. He knew nothing about football. At all. I guess there are some things you don't get from books on string theory.</comment>


Paris rejects 'Obama-style' stimulus program - <AUTHOR> http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/02/business/frecon.php <comment><USER2> When I read the title, my first thought was "wtf is that dumb bitch thinking now". I should stop reading digg altogether. XD</comment>


TechCrunch: Skating on Thin Ice - <AUTHOR> http://www.jgc.org/blog/2009/07/techcrunch-skating-on-thin-ice.html

<comment><USER2> I never, ever gloat or make fun of others when it comes to security. It seems like a no-win situation. If you go to someone privately with security concerns, you're generally seen as helpful. If I publicly oust somebody, there are all sorts of people like the author (but far less scrupulous) who might consider it their duty to knock me down a peg... and I'm no security expert.

Using "password" for a password is really stupid, but "really stupid" is relative to the knowledge level of the person pointing it out, in most cases. I'd prefer not to find out what really stupid thing I've done to allow some script kiddie access to my servers (or whatever the case may be).

<comment><USER3> I actually don't care much for the tone of this article either, for that matter. It's just a bit off for some reason IMO. Perhaps it comes across as a bit of gloating itself? I'm not sure, but it's not that big a deal.

<comment><USER4> The tone reminds me exactly of the bit in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where Slartibartfast calls Arthur Dent "late" in an effete attempt to sound sinister and threatening...

... but that's probably just me, though.

<comment><USER5> 'threats... I'm not very good at them, though I'm told they can be quite effective...'.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> A quick follow up. TechCrunch got in contact and we had a quick back and forth. They confirmed that the security vulnerability I was pointing out was something they had worried about already and taken action to mitigate.

They also said "We have had thousands of breakin attempts over the past few days". No surprise really.

And they are planning some posts pointing out the vulnerable nature of apps in the cloud.

</comment><comment><USER6> Aren't the situations a little asymmetrical or are they ? How much does a disruption in Twitter service affect people and how much a disruption in Techcrunch affect the internet economy.

<comment><USER7> Are you suggesting they are both almost useless?

Edit: On second thought I assume you mean one of them is useful, but I could not tell from your comment which you though was more useful.

<comment><USER8> I really think that puts things in perspective a bit.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I think that what TC are doing with the stolen documents is deplorable journalism, but his site remains, and is currently unhacked, so I guess he has the last laugh.

</comment><comment><USER10> I'm no "hacking expert" but is hacking nowdays really just you guessing/stealing a person's password?

<comment><USER11> Not all that's involved. Sometimes "hacking" involves creative pranks.

For example, one prank I pulled (which was admittedly pretty basic and silly) was a creative redirection using .htaccess for a certain someone's fixed IP address who used to lurk a site I ran last year. This person had an extreme distaste for me, because of the existence of the site and she would publicly slander me for something I never did at every available chance.

So I decided to have a little fun with her.

I set up a page with her (publicly available) photo with large text headline saying that she had been hacked, which the redirection went too.

Total time to setup - less than 3 minutes.

Having her write me a lengthy email me telling me that she was going to call the police (in Australia) and have me arrested was pretty interesting. I never responded.

I think I would be freaked out too if the next time I visited someone's blog (which I was hypothetically consistently leaving trolling/nasty comments on) there would be my picture there, exclaiming how I'd been hacked.

Sometimes the illusion of having "hacked" someone is just as satisfying as the real thing, without the messy potential of jail-time.

<comment><USER5> Remind me to stay on your good side.

We pulled a similar prank on a guy working on implementing 'verified by visa'. Every morning he'd walk in to the office and read the same news site. So, three days before completing the project we cloned the news site and posted an article that VISA had decided to abandon VBV.

He walks in to the office, starts reading the headlines (-- expletive deleted --) slams his coffee down and walks out of the office.

To his credit within 20 paces he started laughing like mad, knowing he'd been had. Pretty clever dude, it would have taken me a bit longer... :)

To protect the guilty and the innocent alike, no further references, but rest assured that a few words were addressed to VISA execs that were not exactly pc.

Lots of fun with the DNS.

<comment><AUTHOR> You could do a load of damage with DNS redirection. If you look at the market penetration of Google Analytics you'll see that a very, very large number of sites are embedding JavaScript pulled from google-analytics.com in web pages. Now imagine if you redirected that one domain and served your own JavaScript. You could include the GA JavaScript as well, but add your own stuff which would then run in everyone's (within that DNS area) web pages and your JavaScript could start doing all sorts of nasty things.

<comment><USER5> Absolutely, I don't think it will be long before there will be a major hack like this at some large ISP. The temptation is just too large.

DNS is one of the weak links of the way the web is put together, and javascript embedded from third party sites nicely exposes that Achilles heel.

Another reason to mistrust open wifi connections :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I think he is hiding something in his article. Interesting.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm not hiding anything. I'm just pointing out that this sort of gloating is a really bad idea. If I had actually broken into TechCrunch's systems do you think I would post an article about it?

<comment><USER13> Or maybe that's what you want us to think. After that last hack, you'd be rather high on the suspect list.

<comment><USER14> Get off the guy's back. That last hack was both clever and responsible. Having the ability to find security problems does NOT make one a suspect automatically.

<comment><USER5> Actually, in most companies that is exactly what it does.

<comment><AUTHOR> Agreed. I wonder at what point intelligence and knowledge become an arrestable offense. I own a set of lock picks. If I were to carry these outside of my home in the UK (since I am not a locksmith) I could be arrested for the offense of "going equipped"

\---

Section 25 Theft Act 1968

(1) A person shall be guilty of an offence if, when not at his place of abode, he has with him any article for use in the course of or in connection with any burglary, theft or cheat.

(3) Where a person is charged with an offence under this section, proof that he had with him any article made or adapted for use in committing a burglary, theft or cheat shall be evidence that he had it with him for such use.

\---

Am I "going equipped" on a daily basis?

<comment><USER5> The joke goes that a locksmith was arrested for 'going equipped' and he countered they should arrest him for rape as well...

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> At least this post will have everybody running like headless chickens at TC deleting every unethical or compromising evidence and fixing every possible security hole.

But there will always be one hole left...

<comment><AUTHOR> Or, Michael Arrington could just send me an email and I'll tell him which machine I'm talking about.

<comment><USER16> Would you also let know, which machine it is, if _someone else_ mails you.

<comment><USER15> Hey it is me, Michael Arrington.

Please tell me which machine it is, send info to:

firstname.lastname@example.com

Thanks!

<comment><AUTHOR> You think I don't know Michael Arrington's email address, or how to verify that it's really him?

<comment><USER17> I think the @mailinator was a tip off.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do you manage your favorite submissions? - <AUTHOR> When reading Hacker News, I can often find some awesome tools and articles which I want to save in case I need them in the future. However, I'm finding my "favorite submissions" list become longer and longer. It's very difficult to search or categorize them.<p>How do you manage your favorite submissions? Are there any good tools or websites for this purpose? <comment><USER2> Hacker News is one of the many sites and services where I save favorites (reddit, GitHub, stackoverflow, Digg Reader and others)

It would be nice to have an aggregator. This is something I have thought of building myself, but I have no experience making web apps.

</comment><comment><USER3> I have begun aggregating my favorites for various general topics by starting a google group on the topic and posting my HN favs to it.

</comment><comment><USER4> You click "favorite". It's right there next to "flag", "discuss" etc.</comment>


An Illustrated First-Person Guide to the CIA's Torture Program - <AUTHOR> https://www.enmnews.com/2019/12/04/an-illustrated-first-person-guide-to-the-c-i-a-s-torture-program/ <comment><USER3> This is literally cut and paste plagiarized from the New York Times article.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/cia- torture-d...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/cia-torture- drawings.html)

<comment><USER4> Thank you for mentioning this. I was wondering about the credibility of this website after regretfully reading the comments section. Turns out they just scrape other websites and place a "source" link at the bottom of the article.

From their about us page:

"ENMNEWS.COM is a company that collects the most important news from around the world and stores them in one place to be easily and quickly available to our readers. All articles that are not ours have a source and was automatically downloaded."

<comment><USER5> The site hasn't even existed for a year and appears to be based in Montenegro.

<comment><USER6> There was an amazing documentary on the fake news industry in Montenegro on YouTube. I think it was by AlJazzera. If you have time, give it a look - <USER2> worth watching!

<comment><USER5> You're thinking of Macedonia:

[https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/12/1612271020...](https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/12/161227102010693.html)

[https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190528-i-was-a- macedoni...](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190528-i-was-a-macedonian- fake-news-writer)

[https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake- news/](https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news/)

<comment><USER6> You are 100% right. Sorr for the confusion

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This audio segment from The Intercept is highly relevant and illustrative of how this all came to be.

My favorite sound bites are "In one e-mail with the subject 'Torture Update'", and "We will not be briefing the president on this".

At one point, the CIA and Senate had mutually filed criminal prosecution referrals against one another over the cover up.

[https://theintercept.com/2019/12/04/george-bush-barack- obama...](https://theintercept.com/2019/12/04/george-bush-barack-obama-and- the-cia-torture-cover-up/)

<comment><USER8> Somehow that was even more disturbing than the president orchestrating it. It indicates that the CIA is a rogue* agency that is insulated enough from the political system that it can basically do what it wants, and what it wants is rooted in base aggression devoid of even evidence based approaches (their own data showed torture didn't work).

If the president doesn't know, doesn't authorize programs that are this controversial, it means they are a decoration and the political system is a sham.

* rogue meaning autonomous from political control, not necessarily that it is doing anything to contradict the imperatives of the empire.

<comment><USER9> At this point the CIA is really best viewed as an organized crime syndicate with the blessing of the government and ruling class. The other thing to help understand the situation is that due to Epstein-style kompromat it possesses on that ruling class, the CIA sits _above_ the POTUS in the US power structure.

<comment><USER8> It is alleged that the CIA was involved with Epstein. At the very least, the guy that got him his job teaching at Dalton, Donald Barr, [0] was ex-OSS, and the father of William Barr, ex-CIA [1] and the current Attorney General.

[0] [https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/the-epstein-barr- proble...](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/the-epstein-barr-problem-of- new-york-citys-dalton-school/)

[1] [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/who-is-william- barr-5-thing...](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/who-is-william- barr-5-things-to-know-about-the-attorney-general)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Now imagine hypothetical scenario. Some innocent victim of the torture program or victim's relative decides to take revenge on USA by committing a mass murder or a terrorist attack. Wouldn't it be kinda justified? With an exception of kids, how many Americans are really blameless for these actions? They elected the leaders who allowed it (both Republicans - Bush and Democrats - Obama), they don't hold people who committed it accountable, they didn't try to make amends to victims or reimburse them. Many people go to BLM protest, but this torture was much worse than that and Americans just ... don't care.

<comment><USER11> Obama banned the use of torture.

<comment><USER12> Yet continued drone strikes, killing who knows how many innocent people. Not a huge improvement.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> How is it possible that people weren't held accountable for this? And how come the US government _still_ hasn't tried to remedy the situation? Are those people going to be held in captivity with no charges until their death?

<comment><USER14> Because in the wake of 9-11, you would have been very pressed to find any US adult who didnt support torturing terrorists in custody to prevent more attacks. The Patriot Act passed almost unanimously.

You have to remember the _emotional_ impact of 9-11 to properly judge the people in charge at that time.

<comment><USER15> My country* was repeatedly bombed by terrorists, explicitly supported by Americans (but probably not the actual USA government). I always get incredulous at the hypocrisy when Americans talk about how 9/11 made them feel angry.

I'm not saying my country didn't do things to deserve this. Or that we were innocent victims of unprovoked foreign aggression. But then, can the USA say the same? Was 9/11 really unprovoked?

*England, bombed by the IRA for over 20 years, who raise(d) the vast majority of their funds from "patriotic" ex-pat Irish Americans.

<comment><USER16> >My country* was repeatedly bombed by terrorists, explicitly supported by Americans (but probably not the actual USA government). I always get incredulous at the hypocrisy when Americans talk about how 9/11 made them feel angry.

Really?!

You guys treated the Irish like crap for generations. It should come as no surprise that there was no shortage of ex-pats willing to send a buck to help them wage war on you.

>I'm not saying my country didn't do things to deserve this. Or that we were innocent victims of unprovoked foreign aggression. But then, can the USA say the same? Was 9/11 really unprovoked?

You can certainly make the argument that 9/11 is a response to our prior actions in the region but whether that is true or not will not make the people who feel attacked feel any less attacked. This is a complex issue about which reams upon reams have been written and I doubt anything we say here will do it justice.

<comment><USER13> I think both of your responses here apply to both situations. Your comment about how people who felt attacked won't feel any less attacked applies to the British as well when it comes to the IRA. Your comment about how the British treated the Irish poorly applies to the US in the Middle East as well. Maybe not quite to the same degree, but still.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> The United States should be better than this, makes me sad to be American.

<comment><USER18> You may not believe this, but humans are like that (and have been throughout the entire history). Makes me sad to be a human, but things are probably better than how they were, say, 300 years ago.

<comment><USER19> This is really true. It may be depressing for some people, but humans doing the wrong thing sometimes is never going to go away.

<comment><USER20> We may never be able to get rid of individual psychos that torture people, but it would be nice if we could get rid of large-scale state-sanctioned torture that everyone knows about.

<comment><USER16> Doubtful, at least anytime soon. The diffusion of responsibility that large organizations bring enables the organization to act however unethically it wants in pursuit of its goals without anyone feeling responsible for it. Clandestine "we have to stop this instance when it becomes known" torture is still better than "everyone winks and nods and the program goes on" torture though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> A reminder of Christopher Hitchens' account of waterboarding:

[https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/08/hitchens200808](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/08/hitchens200808)

<comment><USER22> Thanks; I hadn't read that since it came out. Hitchens' voice is missed. This article cuts through the noise to the heart of the torture conversation.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> this seems to be just a copy-and-pasted article from the New York Times.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/cia- torture-d...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/cia-torture- drawings.html)

</comment><comment><USER24> The USA is still sadly lacking a "gulag archipelago" book, that will expose to polite society the scale of these practices.

</comment><comment><USER25> This website is barely usable on mobile. Slow, full of ads, and the entire page becomes dark as if a modal had been opened, yet it's nowhere to be found and closed. Won't read.

<comment><USER26> I got the same when I opened it using my browser. So I opened it in my "remote browser" (this is not a plug, just a help): [https://free.cloudbrowser.xyz](https://free.cloudbrowser.xyz) and it was much more usable.

<comment> m-p-3 Interesting. Is there a self-hosted version someone could deploy for private use?

<comment><USER26> Yes, friend: [https://github.com/dosycorp/robot- head](https://github.com/dosycorp/robot-head)

If you wanna play audio (yer username, c'mon), see: [https://boogeh.com](https://boogeh.com) (audio works but is like 20 seconds lag as we encode it)

There's docker image linked there as well.

Hit me up if you have any issues: firstname.lastname@example.com or @browsergap on twitter. X

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> If you are interested in the topic, i can highly recommend "A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror" from Alfred McCoy for an analysis how torture changed and how it works today.

</comment><comment><USER28> This source document was linked in the above article, and I found it pretty interesting. "Interrogation of al Qaeda Operative"

It describes in some detail the apparently authorized techniques and levels of torture. There's also a section about how the Navy already has some history with using waterboarding.

[https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/legacy/2010/...](https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/legacy/2010/08/05/memo- bybee2002.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER29> Five hours, 140 points later, and the link hasn't been updated to the CORRECT story: [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/cia- torture-d...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/cia-torture- drawings.html)

</comment><comment><USER30> In defence of "whataboutism" argument

The best phrase I heard about that is:

 _" A sum of two half-wrongs don't make one right"_

Not as single country that went on torturing people can be a moral high mark.

Even if we have hard time finding countries who have not tainted themselves with torture over the last 2 decades, we should never accept torture as a norm.

Even if all major powers of the world were tainted by it, it just means that they _all_ miss that high standard now.

Will not name countries here, but think yourself.</comment>


Deprecating Secure Sockets Layer Version 3.0 - <AUTHOR> https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7568.txt <comment><USER2> Great! I hope we can stop using 'SSL' (or even 'SSL/TLS') everywhere and start using just 'TLS' now. :)

<comment><USER3> I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Myself and many engineers I know still use the term "SSL" even when we mean TLS (i.e., 1.0+) exclusively, in part because some people don't "know" TLS (but they _do_ know what SSL is).

Old habits die hard, I guess.

<comment><USER2> Indeed. I used to do the same, but I've since switched to only using TLS and taking a couple of seconds to say 'a newer version of SSL' to any confused looking faces in the discussion. After a while of doing this I don't see nearly as many confused faces and others have even taken up the procedure! :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Looking at the references, I found RFC 7366, by Peter Gutmann (author of the dual-licensed cryptlib), which proposes an extension to make TLS encrypt-then- MAC instead of MAC-then-encrypt. Interestingly, that RFC cites three informational references, two of which predate TLS 1.1 (2002).

<comment><USER5> I don't think any browsers do it yet, right? I hope that TLS 1.0 clients/servers can be fixed using this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Amused that the original drafts' titles were variations on "sslv3-die-die- die".

</comment><comment><USER7> Alternate link: [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7568](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7568)</comment>


IT headhunters considered harmful - <AUTHOR> http://www.gilesthomas.com/?p=161

<comment><USER2> That's an interesting reason why people might use a headhunter... but it seems a little weird; I mean, unless you have collaboration between headhunting firms, getting one firm to stop poaching your guys might not get you a whole lot.

I always thought the value proposition of headhunters was some sort of plausible deniability thing. You know, so there wasn't a question of you hiring your golf buddy or something.</comment>


ScaleGrid DigitalOcean Support for MySQL, PostgreSQL and Redis Now Available - <AUTHOR> https://scalegrid.io/blog/scalegrid-digitalocean-support-for-mysql-postgresql-and-redis-now-available/ <comment><USER2> Those are some impressive numbers! Do you have a post on the method(s) you used?

<comment><AUTHOR> Definitely, you can see the performance benchmark comparing workloads in this post: [https://scalegrid.io/blog/comparing-postgresql- digitalocean-...](https://scalegrid.io/blog/comparing-postgresql-digitalocean- performance-pricing-scalegrid-vs-digitalocean-managed-databases/)

<comment><USER2> Thanks! I saw the benchmark but how did you match the PG config? I.e. Was SSL enabled on ScaleGrid vs the default SSL enabled on DO?</comment></comment></comment>


RequestHN: Automatic Git Commit Names - <AUTHOR>

I would love an extension to Git that takes commit hashes and generates / picks a random comical sentence-case name instead.
E.g. 'commit b24068df769197804e4349230af84703be4ab699' might become 'commit FunkyYellowDonkey'.
This would make it much easier for the end-user to quickly compare commit revisions.
Does anyone know of a Git plugin that does this? I would write it myself when/if I have the time. <comment><AUTHOR> This would be analogous in some respects to a feature in GitHub - <USER2> creating a new repository, it offers a random funky name to use.

<comment><USER3> Herkou does a similar thing.

OP - You might want to look at bountify.co to motivate someone to build this for you.</comment></comment>


Show HN: eBay modified with Bitcoin - <AUTHOR> http://www.ebay-btc.betterinternet.me/itm/LEGO-Star-Wars-Death-Star-10188-BRAND-NEW-SEALED-Ships-in-LEGO-cardboard-box-/181125722713

<comment><USER2> Great way to get phished.

<comment><AUTHOR> Abusive mods are removed right away from our platform so you can feel safe :) .

<comment><USER3> How do you identify "abusive" mods, that you can say with such confidence they are removed right away?

<comment><AUTHOR> We review the code itself and not just experiment with the modified site. If we have any doubts, we contact the developer.

<comment><USER3> So we have gone from abusive mods are removed right away, to you review code and hope you spot an issue. Not really the same thing is it?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> So cool!

</comment><comment><USER5> Like it! Great job!!

<comment><USER6> Thx, happy you like it.</comment></comment>


Experiment: Will code for Bitcoin - <AUTHOR> http://ncarlson.com/post/5440748076/experiment-working-for-bitcoin

<comment><AUTHOR> Any comments? I'd love to hear some feedback.</comment>


What's this in the middle of the Amazon? - <AUTHOR> https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-6.191243,-65.133061&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=58.946508,135.263672&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&ll=-6.201141,-65.133305&spn=0.073382,0.132093&z=14

<comment><USER2> There are some more spots at -6.0429, -65.2631 and -6.0214, -65.3033 – so I'd go with c1u's guess of a broken pixel, as you would expect the same colour from reflections – and conspirators are unlikely to change the colour of their SECRET HIDEO _grmpfsdjhdksa_

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> It looks a little larger than a broken pixel.. but maybe it's just that.

</comment><comment><USER3> I bet it's a broken pixel on a CMOS/CCD sensor or a reflective (like aluminum) roof of a building.</comment>


Who are the Chinese tech companies that just bought Opera? - <AUTHOR> https://www.techinasia.com/chinese-tech-companies-bought-opera <comment><USER2> This is a sad news, especially to those of us who have been in the industry long enough to remember what kind of company Qihoo is.

> Qihoo has often been surrounded by rumors of foul play, fraud, and dirty > tricks. Its apps have been banned from the iTunes store before

Well, the same team started by building Malware, tons of them, and then hijacked computers to manipulate Alexa ranking or DDoS competitors websites.

Then they turned around and started a new company to built anti-Malware software that had, and still probably has, an enormous market share, which gives them more machines to sell adverts.

RIP, Opera.

</comment><comment><USER3> Very sad indeed, have been an Opera user since the very beginning. When IE's only feature was having bookmarks, Opera had tabbed browsing, mouse gestures, etc. It was a great browser designed by great people, not by some corporate design policy.

But I guess not everybody sees that :) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_Quotient_%28IQ%29...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_Quotient_%28IQ%29_and_Browser_Usage)

<comment><USER4> I switched to Vivaldi Browser [https://vivaldi.com/](https://vivaldi.com/)

It is founded by Opera Software co-founder and former CEO Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Tatsuki Tomita. Vivaldi aims to revive the old, popular features of Opera 12 and introduce new, more innovative ones.

It was released on Linux day one. Runs V8 and Blink and you can use Chrome Extensions. Been a good ride so far and they in Beta 2 currently.

<comment><USER5> This looks good! Thanks for sharing. Are there extensions that don't run on it?

The main extensions I'm interested in would be Hola VPN and Privacy Badger.

<comment><USER6> Hola VPN is really bad for privacy as it allows them to track which sites you go to. I'm guessing you're trying to mitigate that with Privacy Badger? That won't work as you are routed through them anyway.

one of the sources: [http://adios-hola.org/](http://adios-hola.org/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Very sad news. Because of the untrustworthiness of the buyers I'll have to find another browser for my phone. Any suggestions?

I started googling around and found an addon for Firefox [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/text- reflow/r...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/text- reflow/reviews/) but it's looks imperfect.

Apparently text reflow won't make its way into Firefox [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=710298](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=710298)

It seems that maybe Lightning does it. I'll try it out. [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=acr.browser.ba...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=acr.browser.barebones&hl=en)

Edit: added link to Lightning

<comment><USER4> I have used Dolphin for years and ditched Opera a long time ago. [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.mgeek.Tun...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.mgeek.TunnyBrowser&hl=en)

<comment><USER7> I went the other way for two reasons:

1) Dolphin uses the stock browser's rendering engine, which is not updated as often as an external one. For older devices is not updated at all. I remember two or three updates in an year on my tablet, which went from 4.4.2 to 5.0.2. Opera is updated in sync with Chromium/Chrome.

2) Opera has text reflow and that made me ditch Dolphin instantaneously. I checked it again now and Dolphin still doesn't have text reflow.

<comment><USER8> Dolphin does have text reflow. There is an option that says 'Auto-fit pages' in advanced settings, which is the same thing as text reflow. That option is the only reason I'm using Dolphin as my mobile browser. I used to use Opera before, but after they switched to Blink, an annoying bug that reloads a tab when it is selected, became a deal breaker for me.

<comment><USER7> Doplhin's text reflow works on some sites but doesn't work in HN. If I zoom a page of comments I have to scroll right and left, which defeats the purpose of zooming. Do you experience the same behavior?

<comment><USER8> It doesn't work for me either. The fault lies with HN. I think the reason text reflow doesn't work on HN is that HN styles its content using old-fashioned HTML tables instead of DIVs.

<comment><USER7> Yes, it's the table layout but Opera manages to reflow it so I'd say that HN is a difficult customer but Dolphin is not doing a good job at managing it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Might want to uninstall Opera Mini if you have it installed. It MitMs all your traffic.

So now that traffic might go to China to a company you may not trust.

<comment><USER9> Also, depending on how far back Opera have logs stored, you might want to uninstall it several months/years ago.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Otter Browser [1] is a FOSS clone of the old opera. It seems to have active development, last time I tried it (more than a year ago) it was pretty decent.

[1] [https://otter-browser.org/](https://otter-browser.org/)

</comment><comment><USER11> Eh. It was dead since they painted an Opera logo on a Webkit wrapper (a sad day indeed). This is just an episode of Walking dead.

</comment><comment><USER12> Worth noting a fork of Opera known as Vivladi exists.

[https://vivaldi.net/en-US/](https://vivaldi.net/en-US/)

It's focused on power users however.

<comment><USER13> It's not a fork, it's a new chromium-based browser.

<comment><USER4> The new Opera was based on Chromium after version 12.

<comment><USER14> Yes, and Chrome has been based on Chromium since forever; like Vivaldi, its also not a fork of Opera. Being Chromium based gives it something in common with Opera, but doesn't make it a fork of Opera.

<comment><USER15> If writing a web engine from scratch would not have taken a ungodly amount of time and effort, they would likely have done so. That said, the behavior of Vivaldi is closer to Opera 12 than Opera 13 and later is. Basically a bunch of cloudcookoolander UX designers got the reigns of Opera, and has since slowly been crawling back towards what Opera 12 was capable of.

<comment><USER14> It sounds to me that you are saying that Vivaldi is (approximately) a Chromium-based _clone_ of Opera 12, not a _fork_.

<comment><USER4> Symantics of clone and fork dealing with a closed program that was sold for billions seems kind of pointless.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Well, I've been waiting for the "final nail to the coffin" and I got a shank...

Oh well, at least there are alternatives, like SeaMonkey, Vivaldi, Otter... or I might just start using Pale Moon.

...as a secondary browser to Opera 12.

</comment><comment><USER17> First thing I did when I saw the news was take Opera and drag it to the trash bin. I barely used and never really liked their browser after the Chromium switch anyways.

</comment><comment><USER18> I'd imagine that's the end of the already 4th-5th place desktop browser. Kind of a shame, but not super surprising these days.

edit: added 'desktop' qualifier

</comment><comment><USER19> I used Opera as my daily browser for years, up to the 12.x release. It was my little "browser that could" vs the big guys. Chrome was gaining huge ground but I kept with Opera as sort of the underdog and knowing the Presto engine was just as good at the time.

Then the switch to it being a skinned Chrome. That was tough for me to swallow as it always was on the back of my mind. I still gave it random tries for days at a time as the new blink/chrome skin, but a discovery had turned me off for good.

Over a year ago, I noticed outgoing traffic to 1-2 IP's in addition to the URL I was visiting. Turns out it was to Opera's malware scanning and to Akamai. Opera and Akamai had info on every web page you visit and there was NO way to turn this off. You can turn this off in Chrome simply in the settings, but Opera purposely spent time removing that ability from Chromium. By-default URL/malware scanning is probably a good thing for the masses, but I did not need it and also felt it was a privacy violation being it was also involving Akamai.

I raised this issue up SEVERAL times with Opera through the desktop blog comments as well as survey's with them. To this day I don't think they even acknowledged the posts I made and just ignored the issue. I recall, I think, one Opera employee saying they will look into it for future versions, but every new release I saw nothing.

Before the switch off Presto, Opera would quickly work on resolving bug comments as well as community feedback. I felt the major difference once it went to being Google's b&tch (even making it very difficult for some time in changing off of Google as default search from address bar), that Opera no longer became a browser for the fans and somewhat of the underdog you could cheer for to a cold, commercial sellout. On their own path adding features no one asked/wanted yet several times reverting them back. Much energy spent on throwing stuff out to see what sticks with Speed Dial, theme, bookmarks, but nothing at all in bringing back the features and customization that made Opera 12.x great.

This latest news though is the FINAL straw for me being sold to shady Chinese companies with KNOWN attachment to malware and tracking in whatever they put out. I already had issues with the URL scanning mentioned above and having my info sent to Opera servers was one thing. I will not even let Chinese Opera touch my PC going forward. Opera is good as dead and I will not even look at it anymore.

RIP Opera: 2/11/2016

FF is our last hope in a browser that still worries about privacy to an extent and is still pretty customizable. For daily use I will use Edge and FF equally.

<comment><USER20> > You can turn this off in Chrome simply in the settings, but Opera purposely > spent time removing that ability from Chromium.

FWIW, the browser UI, as well as things like malware scanning, is entirely Opera's own code, and isn't forked from Chromium, so it wasn't "purposely removed" rather just never implemented…</comment></comment>


Yelp AI accidentally deletes app codebase - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> All I could find

[https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/yelp-tried-to-remove- bugs-o...](https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/yelp-tried-to-remove-bugs-on-app- artificial-intelligence-deleted-everything-2003957.html)

</comment><comment><USER3> That was a Release Notes joke.

</comment><comment><USER4> ...and?</comment>


Not Internet but Splinternet. Facebook's new Internet.Org is just as evil - <AUTHOR> https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/internet-splinternet-facebooks-new-internetorg-just-evil-murthy <comment><USER2> Shouldn't we also note that the author of this article is in both the tech startup realm and the online advertising circle of India? That's a pretty clear conflict of interest to me.

</comment><comment><USER3> I know that it's a strong word but this article feels like pure propaganda to me.

Others can easily focus on bringing a different free service to unconnected parts of the world. There is no additional barrier introduced by Facebooks effort. In fact: competition wouldn't be to bad for Facebooks service initiative. Sure that would be more work than a mindless rant about it's downsides.

</comment><comment><USER4> Internet.org isn't new. And yes it's bad and doesn't help net neutrality at all.</comment>


ASCII bit trick to convert lowercase to uppercase and back - <AUTHOR> http://www.catonmat.net/blog/ascii-case-conversion-trick/ <comment><USER2> For a fun application, this trick is used in a proposal to encode extra randomness into the 0x20 bit of each character of a DNS query (to increase resistence to poisoning attacks):

<https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-vixie-dnsext-dns0x20-00>

</comment><comment><USER3> Is it a "trick" if the designers of the original ASCII chart obviously designed it like this?

</comment><comment><USER4> Yes ASCII (and UTF-8) were designed well.

<http://www.pixelbeat.org/docs/utf8_programming.html></comment>


Silex website builder launches a crowd funding campaign - <AUTHOR> http://www.templamatic.com/blog/silex-launches-a-crowdfunding-campaign <comment><USER2> Great Free Website builder. try it now you'll love it! [http://www.silex.me/](http://www.silex.me/)</comment>


Fix Boyer-Moore searcher with the Rytter correction - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/microsoft/STL/pull/724 <comment><USER2> What is a minimal test case (needle + haystack) for which the old code yields a different result than the new code?

<comment><USER3> The smallest test case appears to be a needle of "aaa" and a haystack of "xxaaa", where VS 2019 16.5's boyer_moore_searcher will report "not found", while the corrected code finds the needle at offset 2 in the haystack.

<comment><USER4> Seems astonishing that nobody has run into this in the wild. How does it do on finding 'www' in '[http://www.example.com/](http://www.example.com/), for example?

<comment><USER3> I conclude that usage of std::boyer_moore_searcher is relatively low, despite this C++17 feature shipping in VS 2017 15.3 (August 2017).

"www" triggers the bug like all 3-character repeats, but Boyer-Moore manages to find it in "[http://www.example.com/"](http://www.example.com/") despite the damaged delta2 table, because the incorrect shift value is never exercised. However, a haystack of "[https://www.example.com/"](https://www.example.com/") triggers the bug, because now the "www" is at an offset of 8.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The papers:

\- Boyle, Moore (1977) [https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/moore/publications/fstrpos.p...](https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/moore/publications/fstrpos.pdf)

\- Knuth, Morris, Pratt (1977) [https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4479/9559a1067e06b5a6bf052f...](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4479/9559a1067e06b5a6bf052f8f10637707928f.pdf)

\- Rytter (1980) [https://doi.org/10.1137/0209037](https://doi.org/10.1137/0209037) (paywalled without subscription, but you know where to find it _cough scihub cough_ ).

</comment><comment><USER6> Submitted title was "A C++17 STL bug that can be attributed to Knuth, and its 40-year-old fix", which is nice additional context, but can now go here rather than there.

</comment><comment><USER7> What I really enjoy about this merge request are these comments:

> Rename _Suffix_fn to _Fx, again following the papers. Note that in the usage > below, there is a semantic change: _Suffix_fn stored 0-based values, while > _Fx stores 1-based values. This undoes a micro-optimization (_Suffix_fn > avoided unnecessarily translating between the 0-based and 1-based domains), > but with the increased usage of f in the Rytter correction, I wanted greater > correspondence with the published algorithms in order to verify the > implementation.

And

> Rename 1-based _Idx to 1-based _Jx. (While the code was correct, I found it > confusing that _Idx was 0-based in other loops but 1-based in this loop.)

Naming is one of the most strangely difficult aspects of programming, but if there is one rule it's be consistent. I really hate code that uses a variable name to mean one thing in one place and other somewhere else. I just learned what that meant! Why change it?! And yet this is common, and sometimes a comment about it in code review might get a response like "the code works, why does it matter?" This. This is why it matters. It causes confusion, which makes code difficult to verify, which causes bugs.

<comment><USER8> I've implement a few string search algorithms and translating between 1- and 0- based offset functions was the source of a huge number of bugs, as you might expect. For some reason a lot of sources present the algorithms as 1-based.

<comment><USER9> >For some reason a lot of sources present the algorithms as 1-based.

Because that's a natural mathematical model. "the n-th element" being at position n is handy and natural. What's nuts is that array indexing based on pointer offsets has made its way into nearly all high-level languages.

<comment><USER10> One might say that computing doesn't care about ordinal numbers, only cardinal numbers.

On an infinite tape, there is no "first byte", only "a byte placed where the tape already was when you started" (i.e. at offset=0.)

Similarly, there is no "first byte" of a random-access memory, because the ordering of memory is not guaranteed (i.e. some memories have bit-planes, some memories have banks, some memories are big/little-endian, etc.) The only thing you can say about a memory (and thereby about a RAM-word machine, or about an array) is what exists at address 0 of it, at address 1 of it, etc. It would be incorrect to describe address 0 as "the first byte" of memory, as this would impose a canonical iteration order.

<comment><USER11> >On an infinite tape, there is no "first byte", only "a byte placed where the tape already was when you started" (i.e. at offset=0.)

Maybe, but human brain likes things starting at 1.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> What I find most interesting about this bugfix is simply how terrible of a source Wikipedia is and, at the same time, how valuable professional insight can be (e.g. someone that knows what they're talking about). And to add insult to injury, someone quickly edited Wikipedia (for the "street cred" I'm sure):

> The original paper contained errors for computing the table of pattern > shifts which was corrected by Wojciech Rytter in 1980 [1]

But that's _still actually wrong_. Computing the table was not even discussed in the "original paper" \-- see the papers linked by @oefrha in this thread. They're two different 1977 papers!

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyer%E2%80%93Moore_string- sea...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyer%E2%80%93Moore_string- search_algorithm)

<comment><USER8> Yeah I wrote that Wikipedia article, as much as a single person can. Used the textbook _Strings, Trees, and Sequences_ by Gusfield; it never made mention of Rytter. I wouldn't say Wikipedia is a "terrible" source, though; compared to what? Papers? Textbooks? During the course of my career I've found major technical errors in about half of CS papers. Now the error is being documented & fixed in the Wikipedia article.

My main takeaway was that people should avoid BM in favor of KMP as much as possible if you're writing a string search function, because you're guaranteed to have some bugs when implementing BM. Writing your own string search function seems nearly on the same level as implementing your own cryptographic functions, though.

Interestingly someone reported a bug in my BM sample code on the wikipedia article talk page some years ago (still not yet fixed) which might be related to this Rytter issue. And someone forked my wikipedia article code repo yesterday, which I thought was very weird; must be related to this.

I guess coming to a further defence of wikipedia: as you read technical books & papers (or philosophy!) you see knowledge is extremely unevenly-distributed in society. Much of it is locked up inside these dense, expensive books (if you're lucky!) and even more of it is sitting undigested in papers written for people with five years of postgrad education, and _even more_ is in expert's brains and never put to paper. These barriers stay up for a long time, decades even. We just witnessed one such barrier falling. Wikipedia is an optimal resting place for such liberated knowledge, and I would go so far as to say knowledge that is not on Wikipedia is not yet liberated.

<comment><USER3> > you're guaranteed to have some bugs when implementing BM. Writing your own > string search function seems nearly on the same level as implementing your > own cryptographic functions, though.

And that's the Curse Of The Standard Library Implementers: we're the ones that have to implement Boyer-Moore, floating-point string conversions, etc. so everyone else can use them :-)

<comment><USER13> Why aren't there projects amongst the standard library maintainers to make some standard tests and maybe even APIs? That way you'd know that every library implements each algorithm correctly.

<comment><USER3> We actually do use libc++'s test suite, which has found several bugs, but not this one (apparently because they don't yet have std::boyer_moore_searcher).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Lol, I was taught by Rytter like 20 years ago. He did much more in text algorithms than just correcting B-M. The two books by Crochemore & Rytter are basically _the_ books on text algorithms.

<comment><USER15> > the books on text algorithms.

And also "Flexible Pattern Matching in Strings" by Navarro and Raffinot.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> This guy is a hero! I have so much respect for his work.

By i'm still wondering if this bug could have been detected by automatic fuzzing testing ?

<comment><USER3> I believe that fuzz testing would have found it, yes. I'm not sure if fuzz testing would have been guided towards highly repetitive patterns, given the relative lack of branches in the table construction code, but the incorrectly handled patterns can be very short so fuzz testing should have stumbled upon them (given a pattern that generated an incorrect table, finding a haystack which doesn't work is merely a matter of having the needle occur at a specific offset).

Currently we don't fuzz test MSVC's STL, but that is an extremely interesting area to explore in the future. I played around with this a little while working on std::from_chars() (and found no bugs), but it involved actually porting the code to Linux to be compiled with American Fuzzy Lop, so I didn't permanently add such test coverage to our repo.

<comment><USER17> It seems AFL might have been ported to Windows:

[https://github.com/ivanfratric/winafl](https://github.com/ivanfratric/winafl)

(don't know; just found this two minutes ago)

<comment><USER3> Very interesting, thanks!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> > However, the published algorithm for dd' was incorrect! This was discovered > and fixed by Rytter in 1980, which we weren't aware of until we received a > bug report.

Fits what Knuth said: "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it."

</comment><comment><USER19> Nice fix! It's been a while since I've done c++ so does the following code

      const auto elapsed = steady_clock::now() - start;
      if (elapsed > 10s) {

actually use a units quantifier on the 10, i.e. does 10s mean 10 seconds? Is that a library thing? Cool if so.

<comment><USER20> that's a user defined literal, a language feature: [https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/user_literal](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/user_literal)

the std::chrono library reserved some suffixes (under std::literals::chrono_literals) for time units [https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/symbol_index/chrono_litera...](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/symbol_index/chrono_literals)

<comment><USER3> And this works because I have `using namespace std;` in the test, which makes all of the Standard Library's "user"-defined literals available. So does `using namespace std::literals;` (without dragging in other names). There's also the extremely fine-grained `using namespace std::chrono_literals;` (no need to type `using namespace std::literals::chrono_literals;` due to how inline namespaces work) which drags in just the chrono duration literals. Finally, `using namespace std::chrono;` drags in all of the chrono names and the chrono literals.

The reason that a using-directive of some kind is necessary is that UDLs are provided by operators, and directly spelling out the operator in order to namespace-qualify it would be self-defeating. (Many people dislike `using namespace std;` and I understand their point, but when one works on the STL all day every day, this using-directive is sure nice for test code.)

My exhaustive test case for this is (demonstrating all the different ways that chrono literals can be accessed): [https://github.com/microsoft/STL/blob/31419650d472932dd24b9c...](https://github.com/microsoft/STL/blob/31419650d472932dd24b9c5602707b0454f61fb2/tests/std/tests/Dev11_0000000_user_defined_literals/test.cpp#L77-L122)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Nice, but using decade old and overly slow string search algorithms still is questionable. There are hundreds of faster algos, the fastest and most stable currently being epsm (2013). [https://www.dmi.unict.it/~faro/smart/algorithms.php?algorith...](https://www.dmi.unict.it/~faro/smart/algorithms.php?algorithm=EPSM&code=epsm)

</comment><comment><USER22> A while back I filed an issue on the MSVC std::vector implementation as the behaviour of a weird corner case differed from GCC/Clang.

The reply I got from STL himself was fantastic, pointing out that it was [paraphrasing here] a wart in the spec, and that neither were actually incorrect.

To my lasting regret, I didn't keep an _ahem_ offsite backup of some of those corp emails. Hence I can't recall the exact details.

<comment><USER3> This sounds like the vector<list<unique_ptr<T>>> fiasco, where a vector contains elements that are movable-only (you can't copy a list<unique_ptr<T>>, only move it), yet with throwing move constructors (as MSVC's list, set, and other node-based containers dynamically allocate sentinel nodes when default/move-constructed - this is a behavior difference from GCC's libstdc++ and Clang's libc++, where both dynamically-allocated and container-internal sentinel nodes are permitted by the Standard). The doom begins when STL containers like list (also vector itself) don't have "constrained copy constructors" \- that is, list(const list&) always appears to be available, as far as type traits like is_copy_constructible are concerned, even if that copy constructor can't actually compile. The doom accelerates when vector<Elem> needs to ask the question "are you nothrow-movable? If so, I can move you efficiently. Otherwise, are you copyable? If so, I can fall back to copying you during reallocation, in order to preserve the strong exception guarantee. Otherwise, you're throwing movable-only, so I'll move you and you get the basic guarantee". The doom is complete when list<unique_ptr<T>> correctly reports that it isn't nothrow-move-constructible (it would throw due to allocating a sentinel), yet incorrectly claims to be is_copy_constructible. Therefore the vector tries to copy the list<unique_ptr<T>> and that fails to instantiate, resulting in an epic compiler error.

This situation is a fiasco because there is no good way out of it (constraining container copy constructors isn't possible because the Standard permits incomplete element types for many containers, and users use them for other containers even though they technically shouldn't, weakening EH guarantees is potentially problematic, changing the nature of sentinel nodes is ABI-breaking and affects iterator invalidation guarantees). It is also highly memorable, which is why I can guess what it was :-)

<comment><USER22> I only just noticed this reply - many apologies.

Yes, that's the one! Our fix was explicitly deleting the copy constructor. In essence a one-liner for us, but you can't see the iceberg of an issue beneath the surface.

Thanks once again. :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Any one know why the Turbo Boyer-Moore algorithm is not more popular. Any case when Boyer Moore would be better?

<comment><USER23> There are literally hundreds of string search algorithms published now (including a large number of Boyer Moore variants).

There's a great resource called SMART for those interested in exploring this, with implementations of many of them and a simple benchmarking tool.

[https://smart-tool.github.io/smart/](https://smart-tool.github.io/smart/)

Although Boyer Moore is well known, there are generally faster algorithms available these days.

For short patterns, SHIFTOR will tend to be a lot faster than BM. Even the much simpler variant of BM, Horspool is usually faster than BM.

This highlights an interesting tension in search algorithm design. Often a simpler algorithm outperforms one with theoretically higher performance, but not always!

<comment><USER21> Fastest and best is the latest, EPSM. For all cases, given you are on x86_64 or aarch64 with sse4.2

The cited implementation has only minor problems, which I fixed in my fork.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> > _I find it very curious that it isn 't constantly mentioned when explaining > Boyer-Moore_

Papers need "superseded by ..." type forward references, like IETF RFC's. Or rather "corrected by", in this case.

Maybe important algorithms need to be summarized in RFC-like documents.

<comment><USER25> Exactly the same problem occurs with legislation. For years this was solved by third-parties publishing enormous annotated legal references. Nowadays the government (in the UK anyway) publishes legislation online incorporating all the edits made by later legislation.

Knuth's TAOCP serves as an annotated third-party reference, except that in this case he's not a third-party. I don't have a copy to hand to see if it has the correct version of the algorithm.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> I remember Dr Dobbs, way back when, having an article on the search algorithm. I think they had C code for it.

I did a version in 68K on the Mac (MPW Shell days) for a SGML editor I was working on.

</comment><comment><USER27> So there is potentially a simpler fix than the Rytter correction, is that also yet to discover in published papers somewhere, or do we need to ask Knuth himself?

<comment><USER3> Apparently there are multiple fixes, some of which are said to be simpler. See [https://github.com/microsoft/STL/issues/727](https://github.com/microsoft/STL/issues/727) and the cited comments within, which quote Knuth. (I'm learning a lot by having this PR appear on HN!)

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Is Dlang affected?</comment>


The Law Isn't Ready for Psychedelic Medicine - <AUTHOR> https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/psychedelic-medicine-is-coming-the-law-isnt-ready/ <comment><USER2> I frequent other message boards in which people share their stories about using drugs. One story I read a while ago was from a "newbie" (novice?) sharing his experience taking LSD. First he got some nice hallucinations but then he took a knife from his kitchen and started carving up his arm. Which, of course, meant he lost lots of blood and had to go to the hospital.

Anyways, the point, for me, wasn't the story itself but how the more experienced drug users reacted. They didn't write "You're lying! LSD is a mellow drug and won't cause you to harm yourself." Nope, nothing of the sort, instead their opinion was that the novice made a "classic rookie mistake" by leaving dangerous items around. One user wrote that before he tripped he always hid all dangerous items as a precaution. What I also read on that message board was that you shouldn't experiment with psychedelia _unless you have a stable psyche_.

Would a pill with the label "Not to be taken by people with an unstable psyche" or "Possible side effects: Knife carving of muscle tissue by user" pass any regulatory body? I think if such substance came from big pharma most people would be very skeptical.

<comment><USER3> > Would a pill with the label "Not to be taken by people with an unstable > psyche" or "Possible side effects: Knife carving of muscle tissue by user" > pass any regulatory body?

And yet alcohol kills and maims millions per year. The tool is not dangerous, it is the person who (mis)uses it.

<comment><USER4> Millions? Citations needed. Assuming this is right in some sense, alcohol has been integrated into functioning civilizations for thousands of years and still causes this kind of damage, where insane garbage like LSD hasn't, and no civilization worth talking about has managed to integrate a psychedelic drug with it and maintain a high level of civilization. And yes, I've tried it, and I've seen what it does to people: nothing positive.

Sure makes people think they're clever though.

<comment><USER5> [https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alco...](https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/msb_gsr_2014_1.pdf)

Page 14.

<comment><USER4> Great; some NGO, based on (citations needed) claims millions of premature deaths a year from alcohol, a substance which has been used by humans for at least 30,000 years. I look forward to their detailed report on what the projections are for widespread psychedelic use.

Of course there won't be any. Because psychedelic use is at least at present a useful form of social control. I know a few people who killed themselves drinking and driving, and have a cousin who drank themselves to death. I know dozens, perhaps hundreds of people who have destroyed themselves psychologically using psychedelics. Dead people are tragic. Zombies are worse.

<comment><USER6> > "Because psychedelic is at least at present a useful form of social control"

Why significantly more so than alcohol?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> If psychedelic use becomes more widespread it could lead to a radical change in society the like of which we haven't seen since the 1960's. This is the one slight sliver of hope I'm holding out for the future.

<comment><USER8> What does psychedelic use have to do with a change in society? I lived in Seattle during the time marijuana was legalized, and did not see anything of the sort.

<comment><USER9> Cannabis is not psychedelic, at least to the same degree that classical psychedelics are (Psilocybin, Mescaline, DMT).

<comment><USER10> You're right. Although someone like Terrence McKennna would categorize cannabis as psychoactive. Very heavy doses have that almost borderline trippy visuals effect once in a while, in my personal experience.

<comment><USER9> Psychoactive is a blanket term that applies to all substances that affect the brain. It primarily consists of sedatives, stimulants, and hallucinogens.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> We should eliminate a majority of law. Too much law is like an over engineered program with edge cases for everything that prevents anything from changing in the future. Law cements stagnancy in our society. And at the worst, it creates moats for the powers that can use law to protect their interests over others.

<comment><USER12> Why is tech infested with know-it-all libertarians? Honestly, do you think we'd all be better off in a lawless anarchy?

<comment><USER13> Same reason "Let's just throw it away and rewrite it the _right way_ this time!" is such a common failure mode of engineering projects.

While it nearly assures the death of the project, it's so enticing due to its simplicity.

<comment><USER11> The point isn't to throw it away - law has meaning. It has less meaning when it defines everything.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Honestly, what IS the law ready for?

Lawyers making money? Check. Benefiting the public at large? Big Nope.

<comment><USER15> Yeah, for millions of years, we always waited for the law to be ready, before we made some breakthrough.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Many states (Oregon and Colorado) are starting to decriminalize psilocybin. The interesting thing is always how the federal government views this and what actions it takes. I'm optimistic.

<comment><AUTHOR> Just happed in June in the Bay Area, CA. Alameda County, which includes Berkeley and Oakland. The law is for naturally derived psychedelics so it includes things like DMT and Ibogaine as well

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> It's a cultural crime that psychedelics have been criminalized for half a century or so.

The expansion of certain mental faculties (3-D Visualization, free thought association, meta-thought) could have been harvested for societal benefit...

Oh well, wishes to the dust and all that.

<comment><USER18> 1970-2030+ or so will be seen as a drug dark age. A time where criminalization made everything more dangerous, and harm reduction worse. Part of a 60+ year gap in innovation using all substances for many health related cures and issues as well as recreational fun and exploration.

We learned nothing from alcohol (a drug) prohibition.

All prohibition and criminalization does is make everything more harmful, from use, to production, to creating cartels/mafias that become as powerful as nation states.

<comment><USER19> >creating cartels/mafias that become as powerful as nation states.

The state is balls deep in those cartels. Go read about Freeway Rick Ross and Afghanistan poppy fields for prime examples. It's all part of the military industrial complex, Peter Dale Scott has great books on the matter.

<comment><USER20> The books of the mentioned author on that topic:

[https://rowman.com/isbn/9780742525221/drugs-oil-and-war- the-...](https://rowman.com/isbn/9780742525221/drugs-oil-and-war-the-united- states-in-afghanistan-colombia-and-indochina)

[https://rowman.com/isbn/9780742555952/american-war- machine-d...](https://rowman.com/isbn/9780742555952/american-war-machine-deep- politics-the-cia-global-drug-connection-and-the-road-to-afghanistan)

Author's page:

[https://www.peterdalescott.net/q/](https://www.peterdalescott.net/q/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> The implication that this _has anything to do_ with the law is amusing.

</comment><comment><USER22> Psychedelics are legal if you're wealthy.

<comment><USER23> There are plenty that are cheap to obtain or grow.

<comment><USER22> But the cops only care about them if you're poor.

<comment><USER23> The cops are only involved if you are purchasing the expensive ones from dealers.

Essentially nobody is being arrested for purchasing spore syringes, cactus seeds or salvia divinorum. The police aren't interested.

<comment><USER22> If you are growing shrooms then you'll likely being charged with possessing them with intent to distribute, which is 5 years in prison.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


FreeBSD gets ported to the Raspberry Pi - <AUTHOR> http://kernelnomicon.org/?p=164

<comment><USER2> Did you actually read the blog post? I've been following it for some time now and stating it has been "ported" implies a complete system that is _nearly_ fully operational, which it is not. You still have to serial in to get any sort of output. No keyboard. No HDMI. The title is very misleading and slightly belittling of his progress. Instead you could point out he's gotten UBOOT ported which is fantastic news all around. As well as the NetBSD folks have gotten into multi-user mode(!)

<comment><AUTHOR> I did read the blog post, and I realise I should have chosen a better title but I can't edit it now. Besides, the more people who find out about this project the better it will be for the community.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Fantastic! FreeBSD (along with NetBSD and OpenBSD) may be one of the most under-appreciated OSes out there. I hope one day it becomes the desktop OS of choice for developers.

<comment><USER4> Coming from Ubuntu, I tried to see how I could use FreeBSD as my main desktop OS but I was rather disappointed. I was not able to set up X and I decided to try PCBSD which in my opinion proved to be not as usable as Ubuntu. What are the under-appreciated features of FreeBSD in your opinion?

<comment><USER5> The first Unix server I've set up was FreeBSD. I was able to go from zero to multiple services working in a sensible manner with next to no Unix experience, using only the Handbook and Running Linux as my guides. Mind you, that was done via command line, not by clicking buttons, so I gained a lot of understanding of how things work in those 3 days.

The core system installs in couple of minutes and runs well on even the crappiest hardware.

There is not WTF stuff associated with runlevels (there are no runlevels).

You can find and install software by navigating a certain directory in the system and typing in one standard command. Great for feature discovery.

FreeBSD has the best documentation among all the software I have ever used: the Handbook, the help screens in the installer, the security emails, the upgrade notes.

<comment><USER4> The keyword for me is "desktop". I know FreeBSD might be a good server OS. My question is what features does FreeBSD bring forward for the desktop user in order to be a serious concurrent for Ubuntu, Fedora and the other desktop OS distros.(Does it have a better sound devices support ? better window/desktop manager ? Printer support ? Is it better suited for beginers/average experienced users ?)

<comment><USER6> For a desktop OS, I'd only recommend it for experienced users and those who are willing to hit lots of walls and keep going. You will have a harder time getting almost everything running. For sound, you may have a lot of headaches if you don't like parsing logs for errors, scouring man pages and tweaking config files many times before finding a mix of settings that works. At least that was my experience the second time I tried to use it as a desktop OS (the first time, I gave up before I got to sound). Maybe try PC-BSD, which is aimed at providing a user-friendly FreeBSD desktop experience. FreeBSD does not implement lots of features or aim to be the first to support new hardware.

I have used it as a desktop OS for a few years, and it was definitely a learning experience for me. It was a great one though, because the experience helped me land my first job right out of college in a shop that extensively uses FreeBSD.

But TBH, you should probably just use it for servers ;)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> So this means that we can run Pfsense in the Raspberry Pi ?

<comment><USER8> Wouldn't you want at least two NICs for that?

<comment><USER9> Could always use one of those USB Ethernet adapters.</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Comfortable Mexican Sofa - CMS for your Rails 3 apps. - <AUTHOR>

URL: https://github.com/twg/comfortable-mexican-sofa<p>A CMS created by one of the developers in The Working Group, the company that I work for. Will be happy to pass along any questions or comments you guys may have, and hopefully have him answer some questions himself too! <comment><USER2> Hi JonLim, I've been playing with it today. Github is suggesting it on the top page so I think I'm probably not the only one. I did look at TWG page but could find nothing on the CMS.

Are you using it production? Is this something TWG is using internally as work flow?

I notice that a number of tags are available but I'm still unsure of their usage. The sample pages included were somewhat light so if you have better samples that would be helpful.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi freddealmeida,

Apologies on the late response, didn't realize we got a comment here.

Thanks for the questions! We're using CMS for many of our clients and our product (PostageApp.com)

Are you looking for further clarifications on tags and sample code? I believe Oleg (@GroceryBagHead), who created the CMS, is working on a full wiki, so you might want to stay tuned for that. :)

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Clickable: <https://github.com/twg/comfortable-mexican-sofa></comment>


"The Man Who Solved the Market": and the Solution Was HMMs and Regression - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@ilyakavalerov/the-man-who-solved-the-market-and-the-solution-was-hmms-and-regression-dd60cea5a6d7 <comment><USER2> Whatever the solution is it's probably not in that book.</comment>


Why you should not buy Apple's Time Capsule - <AUTHOR> http://karankurani.com/post/92163518998/why-you-should-not-buy-apples-time-capsule <comment><USER2> Note for the author:

[http://timecapsuledead.org/stats.html](http://timecapsuledead.org/stats.html) actually points to [http://karankurani.com/post/92163518998/%20http://timecapsul...](http://karankurani.com/post/92163518998/%20http://timecapsuledead.org/stats.html)

Judging by the %20 in the href, you accidentally put a space.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. Will fix it.</comment></comment>


Why Afternoon May Be the Best Time to Exercise - <AUTHOR> http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/why-afternoon-may-be-the-best-time-to-exercise/?hp

<comment><USER2> ... if you are a mouse.

The best time to exercise is whenever you can push yourself the hardest. Although I come from the cardio-is-stupid-just-eat-right-and-lift-heavy mindset.</comment>


The Keyhole Problem (2002) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://www.aristeia.com/TKP/draftPaper.pdf <comment><USER2> I'm not completely sold on the argument that software should aways fill the user's screen. Many websites, for example, don't use the full width of the screen for text, and I think I personally like it that way because I don't have to sweep the entire screen to read. Screens are landscape, rather than portrait like books, so it can be annoying to read overly wide lines of text.

<comment><USER3> I think that the software should fill the window, not the entire screen unless the user has used the full screen mode or if it is not on the window system (e.g. for full screen DOS software).

If it is a window system but the software may use a fixed screen size, then whether it is window or full screen depend what resolution is set, and may have a user option to set integer zoom. However, this is usually for a computer game, and if you can, it is best to allow the user specified size.

I don't like the websites to don't use the full width of the screen for text; the user can resize the window to put the width that they want instead. If a website does not use the full width, I will use the Stylish extension to override it.

However, many program doesn't need GUI, it can be command-line interface, and does not need to deal with screen space at all (and you can use for example "| less" if it doesn't fit on the screen and want to scroll through it).

I also think that a maximum password length of four digits is way too short, although maybe that can be reasonable as the minimum length.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Does a PDF complaining about fixed-width content qualify as irony?

<comment><USER3> Maybe. Perhaps it would have been better as a HTML document or plain text document, although perhaps they did PDF because they want to print it out on the paper (although HTML documents can also be printed out).

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I got so fed up with the fixed size of the Outlook Rules dialog that I wrote a batch script to to resize it using cmdow[1]. (I have over 50 rules.)

[1] [https://ritchielawrence.github.io/cmdow/](https://ritchielawrence.github.io/cmdow/)

<comment><AUTHOR> I got so fed up with Outlook that I surveyed the bigger half of the office population to find out the outbound server and switched to Thunderbird under a linux vm. Not sure whether it helped with the keyhole problem tho.

<comment><USER6> Thunderbird is by far the best MUA I've used. I use a Chromebook as my daily workstation and I cannot wait for it to support Linux applications so I can run Thunderbird rather than my current situation (a mix of web-mail and ALPINE).

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't own a chromebook, but have you tried [0]? Looks like it allows to run linux programs fairly easily.

[0] [https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton](https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton)

<comment><USER6> It requires disabling a fair amount of the benefits of a Chromebook to enable. Yes, I have tried it. Also, the method it uses to display X11 applications is fairly terrible.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


US to Stop Using Soyuz Spacecraft, Invest in Domestic Private Space Industry - <AUTHOR> http://www.space-travel.com/reports/US_to_Stop_Using_Soyuz_Spacecraft_Invest_in_Domestic_Private_Space_Industry_999.html <comment><USER2> So a bit link baity and not exactly news. The US has been "going have a manned space flight capability again" since forever. But it was pretty clear the current development and procurement system was breaking down. Orion is taking way to long and weak budgeting it only part of the story.

Unless they go out of business I'd expect SpaceX to develop a manned mission capability with or without NASA contracts. Its one thing to be able to take US astronauts into space, it is quite another to be able to take _anyone_ you want into space and back again. Even now I don't think some people fully appreciate the capability SpaceX has developed.

For those of you making proposition bets, here is one for you, "Mexico builds an open access launch facility on their gulf coast." The argument for is pretty strong, it can create a bunch of jobs, it can take advantage of NAFTA, and as a launch only facility needs a relatively limited amount of infrastructure. as Arianespace has shown in French Guiana.

Then its really the Mexican equivalent of the FAA giving licenses to send something orbital.

<comment><USER3> Would ITAR play nicely with a launch facility in Mexico? Would they need some sort of loophole or clever organization to ensure that it wasn't "exporting" the rocket tech?

<comment><USER4> It has always been possible to legally export ITAR controlled technology. You just have to follow the correct procedures and get the correct permissions. A PITA to be sure, but I doubt launching from Mexico would pose any serious problems. Besides, it is not like they would be selling rockets to random people in Mexico, it would remain under the control of the U.S. owner until it was launched.

<comment><USER5> Hell, we've let China launch ITAR controlled tech.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Hopefully it's SpaceX. The other two have fatten enough on wasteful government contracts.

<comment><USER7> Whoever wins, the money will attract corruption from within and from secondary contracts. If it's SpaceX, they'll eventually be bought by Lockheed or Boeing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Was not 2017 original plan? Orion is under development for more than 10 years now.

<comment> rational-future It's hard to take the non-nuclear Orion seriously, knowing it's a product of W Bush's "space initiative".

<comment><USER9> > It's hard to take the non-nuclear Orion seriously ...

It might be a bit early to describe a booster as "non-nuclear" until there's a practical candidate in the nuclear category that meets with public approval. That would be like calling a coal-fired power plant non-fusion-based.

<comment> rational-future NASA had/has 2 Orions: a "nuclear" and a "non-nuclear" ;-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Are they going to go with just one of them? If so, that looks bad for SpaceX. They may have caught wind of it early and let go of some people in anticipation. I just can't see the federal government giving a mega deal to a "small" less-connected SpaceX over industry favorite Boeing. Tell me I'm wrong. I really want to be wrong.

<comment> rational-future SpaceX looks to me like a software startup, that can clue a cheap, working hack from existing products. But Boing is a mega corp like Microsoft, Google, Intel that can create revolutionary new products from the ground up.

<comment><USER5> SpaceX is making rockets that come back and land like a 50s sci-fi wet dream at what look like they'll be drastically lower prices than ever before. Boeing is making an Apollo successor. I think you've got which one's innovative backwards.

<comment><USER11> Agree, it's hard to say when was the last time Boeing did something innovative - on the scale of SpaceX - in space technology.

In 12 years SpaceX roughly managed to build two rockets and one space freighter cheaply - economical "first", to produce stages with e.g. high (comparing to industry standard) dry-to-wet-mass ratio, to produce a kerosene engine with, again, pretty high thrust-to-weight - and run a development program on vertical landing for the first stage.

Don't see anything comparable to that from Boeing.

<comment><USER12> Not just run a development program for vertical landing but figure out a way to make customers pay for much of the testing, too. Part of what's so brilliant about their reusability system is that it can be included on many regular launches without any additional risk to the payload. So instead of having to make expensive special launches just for the test program, they get to fire satellites into orbit _and_ carry out testing on a flight the customer purchased.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Sadly it took sanctions and not gusto to fund the US space program v2.0

<comment><USER14> Brace yourself for another Cold war.

<comment> hell-banned And for trillion dollar profits, if you're luky to be in the MIC complex. Which is the force behind Euromaidan.

<comment><USER5> Which one? Russian or American?

<comment> rational-future American of course: after the advertised end of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan a new enemy was urgently needed.

<comment><USER5> And yet, the equipment being used and destroyed and purchased in this "new Cold War" is almost exclusively Russian. Putin can't really fairly blame the West for invading Crimera, either.

<comment><USER15> >Putin can't really fairly blame the West for invading Crimera, either.

blame? Putin can only be grateful to the Ukraine right nationalists (supported by West) who assaulted the foundational freedom of the Russian ethnic minority - the language - the very first thing after they took power in Euromaidan. While not having any real practical meaning, this assault was extremely symbolic and immediately provided popular support that Putin may have been lacking before. Crimea was basically handed over to Putin on the golden plate. It was so great for Putin that i sometimes wonder whether these right nationalists were paid Putin's agents :)</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>